


Child of Arkham

by Mysterique



Category: Batman - Fandom, DCU (Comics), DCU Movies, The Dark Knight Trilogy - Fandom
Genre: And my own mind, Anne Hathaway appearance for Catwoman, Christian Bale appearance for Batman, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian is not a kid, Experimenting with DNA, F/M, Father-Son Relationship that needs work, I'm going with the version of him after Flashpoint was fixed, Kind of dysfunctional ship, Micheal Caine appearance for Alfred, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Pet Cats, Pet dog, Protege of Catwoman, Single Parents, Some inspiration from both comics and movies, Sort-of ship, Tags have been moved around and are now kind of jumbled up, Teens are difficult, The Scientists at Arkham did it again, Version number ? of a story I've been trying to write, may add more tags later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 02:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18085406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterique/pseuds/Mysterique
Summary: (I have the first version of this story on here already, but I'm not happy with it. I've changed my ideas for one of the main characters and how she came to be, and so I am restarting the story. I'll leave the other one up to remind myself of details/if you guys want to take a look at it.)Beneath the halls of the Arkham Asylum, scientists are known for doing things less than moral - or smart. At it again, they have been trying to make the 'perfect' being of sorts, in order to sell it to crime lords and mobsters around the world. Many of their attempts have gone wrong, though.With each one dying in a terrible way, it is no wonder the ones that survived are so closely guarded.Although, for a master thief bent upon gathering information about them and their activities..Removing one of their last living experiments from her cage was not at all hard. What would be hard, would be everything to come afterwards:Catwoman living life as not only a guardian of an at-risk young woman, but doubling as a mother figure; and trying to teach her how to get by in life the only way she knows how - a life of crime.





	1. Prologue

Rain hit the window as a pair of eyes stared out it. The water droplets were forming bigger and bigger pools in the grass, the sound of it mixing in with the silence of everything; the occasional sounds of crazy-sounding screams breaking through and startling those who were simply trying to mind their own business. 

Such was the life of the teenaged- _appearing_ girl, staring out the window and wishing she were free. White walls, and sterile halls with bright lights were her life. Moved between being experimented on and trapped in a small cell, were the only 'highlights' of it. _That term...being used **extremely** lightly._  

No name given to her save for that of a number, it was no wonder that hearing the approaching sounds of heels clicking on the floor brought a sense of fear to her. Such sounds usually meant that she was about to be visited by a scientist, or a "nurse" of some sort. For what reason they would have to bother her so late, she didn't know. As limited as her knowledge was kept, it was a wonder that she knew much of anything at all if it wasn't condoned. This was why she was backing up into her corner, hugging her knees and keeping a watchful eye on the door of her small room. 

 As the clicking of heels steadily approached, a feeling of uncertainty built up in the little white room’s inhabitant. Who it was that was coming down the hall, she did not get to know until after she already had the feeling that someone was looking into her cell. Seconds later, the door began to open. A woman with dark hair and bright eyes stood at the doorway, dressed as one might expect for a woman scientist to be. Thin-framed glasses sat on her face, and a clipboard in her hand. 

Looking around, she then opened the door up more. Stepping to the side, she motioned for the younger girl to come with her. 

 _“I’m here to get you out,”_ she whispered, looking down the hall again. 

Initially when she’d come here, this woman - a master thief known to the world as “Catwoman” - had planned only to gather information for blackmailing the people behind this whole thing. To get what she was after, and leave. However; upon discovering that they had been using _her_ DNA as well as that of others who were either currently locked up here, or had been before, she dug deeper into the paperwork that they had filed away on it. To her surprise, there was only **one** of the many still living right now: a girl experiment, known only by a serial number and what room she could be found in. While Catwoman’s DNA was not the only DNA that had gone into making the girl, the thief’s curiosity had gotten the better of her - she _had_ to see this for herself before she left. 

And, after picking up what all she thought that she needed, this is exactly what she went to do. In all truth, she’d not known **what** to expect. 

A young girl sitting in the corner and hugging her legs close to her, staring at her with wide eyes.. was not that much of a surprise. Given where they were at right now? Being afraid was to be expected.

What was not, however, was what all would come _after_ this. 


	2. Chapter one: Naming the new "cat"

This was not the first time that Selina Kyle had taken in a younger girl. Before now, there had been one other. A blonde girl, by the name of Holly Robinson. In the streets, she was known as ‘Jen.’ And while she had most certainly been a handful to put up with, there was a great deal that she had not had to teach her that she was having to teach her newest adoptee. Basic interactions with other people, for one. More of the English language than simply the serial number that she’d been given, for another. As well as how to take care of and dress herself on her own. All things that may have been just a bit easier if Jen hadn’t vanished off the face of the Earth randomly one day.

All that work that Selina had put into teaching Jen to be a better thief instead of selling herself to people to make it, now cake into question at times: was it worth it? It was hard to tell. It was also another reason why Selina was torn on what to do when she finally got this girl out of Arkham. She’d broken her out on a sort of impulse, but then had to decide what to do with her.

She could drop her off at the orphanage, but since she held the appearance of a teen and apparently had a lot to learn, it would probably make it hard for her to be adopted. Much less, if the people who had made her were to come looking for her, it would put a lot of innocent kids in danger - and it wasn’t like Selina was completely heartless or anything.

She could drop her off at a church, but that was typically the route taken for babies; with all she had to learn and with her looking to be a teen, it would probably still be hard to find her a home. And, again, innocent people would be in danger if the men who made her were to come searching for their missing experiment.

Selina could also choose to leave her with some well-to-do family or something - but then again, there were not many of those around and it probably wouldn’t end too well. This left her with but one option: to take care of and look after her herself. 

After all, the girl held some of her - and she forgot _who all_ else’s - DNA. _So that made her family in a way..didn’t it?_ In a way, it even almost made her the mother. _Kind of._

As such, all of that left her not only in charge of trying to teach her everything that she could think of, but to also find her a name that suited her.

 _Which, was not as easy as one would think - n_ _aming cats was ~~definitely~~ easier._

**. . . . . . .**

Selina paced back and forth, flipping through an old book of baby names that she had found that someone had tossed out. Chewing on her lower lip, she stopped on a page and read off a few names. This being while the girl’s favorite movie was on in the living room: ‘The Lion King two.’ She was sitting on the couch with one of the many cats that wandered in and out of Selina’s apartment, scratching behind her ears as she watched. The sound of the cat’s purring keeping her calm.

“Rosalyn?” Selina asked, skeptical of that one already. A shake of the head was given in reply, so she kept searching.

“Jackie?” _Bad name choice again,_ she thought. _Why did I even suggest that one?_ Selina questioned herself and scrunched up her nose, coincidentally, as did the girl seated on her couch.

“Marissa?” Selina tried, earning another disapproving shake of the head. Brow furrowing, she sighed. This was about the third or forth time that she’d tried names out of this book for her, and she was about to give up. Five names later, Selina tossed the book and got her breath hard. She was about to say ‘I give up,’ when at last a verbal answer came from the direction of the couch.

“That one,” her voice was kind of soft and broken up, which is why Selina rose a brow when she came over. This girl had been with her for a few weeks now, and she was still trying to get her to speak up.

“What, ‘Princess’?” Selina asked, loosely folding her arms beneath her chest. Her eyes flicked to the screen to see the characters Timon and Pumbaa chasing after the little girl lion cub around on the screen, then looked back over to the girl on the couch.

Shaking her head, she was silent until they said the little lion's name again. At that, she pointed at the screen and repeated what she'd said before.

"That one," she said, sitting up. Looking over to Selina to see if she got it now, she was met with a playful sort of 'I don't know what you're talking about' attitude with her. For a little while there was banter back and forth, until she finally let up and nodded. Ruffling the girl's dark hair, she smiled. 

"Kiara.. it fits you." Selina said, finally earning a light attempt at a smile from the newly-named girl. "Now we just have to figure out the rest of your name," she said, gaining an irritated sigh from Kiara. _There was more?_ Being a person instead of an experiment seemed a lot more complicated to her than she had thought initially. Really, Kiara hadn't been sure what she expected. All she knew was that she was hoping to not be stuck in a tiny room again with now way out. Which, while she was still stuck inside - and completely antsy about it - she at least had the freedom to move around, she tried to remind herself of this often, although it was not easy. _She wanted to go outside again!_

"I guess it can wait, though." Selina said, breaking the silence. Picking up the remote, she paused the movie. Kiara frowned, twitching a bit. Selina took note of this, and tried her best to figure out who it might have come from. There were multiple villains cropping up around Gotham lately, and keeping track of them was getting harder. She almost admired the Caped Crusader for even trying.

"Right now, I need to know what you want for dinner."


End file.
